Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The commission on electronic voting, which reported to you, a Cheann Comhairle, last Friday confirmed that the selected system for electronic voting could accurately and consistently record voter preferences. The commission also stated that experts retained by the commission confirmed that the system accurately and consistently counted votes at the pilot elections, which have already been carried out. The commission concluded that there was not sufficient time to carry out comprehensive additional testing to provide sufficient positive assurance on the system before the June elections.

For that reason the Government decided that we should not continue to pursue the matter for the June elections, that we would continue the operation of this system, that we would abide by what the commission put forward, we would follow its recommendations, work on its suggestions and continue with the project. As Deputy Kenny knows well the capital investment in this project has a lifespan of more than 20 years.

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